Ballad of the Fallen
by PandaMan1234
Summary: Humanity is known for struggles; desperate attempts to prolong the lifetime of the race as a whole. This is the story of a lab experiment, Izzy, who found himself memoryless in the future. *NEW OWNER OF ACCOUNT - RETCONNING SOME PARTS OF STORY
1. Chapter 1

Mankind is known as a race of extreme persistence. Faced with even certain destruction, nothing slows down the efforts as a cohesion of them work to preserve the species. Proof of their final struggle, the last pitch attempt, had been hidden by the world's ocean for an uncountable amount of time. A pod containing what a seed of humanity's hope started to wiggle free from its rocky prison.

Tidal patterns and corrosion finally released it, a great mass of bubbles rising with it. The chamber broke the surface of the water, bobbing and rocking with the waves.

A slow hiss could be heard as the ancient carrier opened, depositing its cargo onto the sandy beach in front of it.

oo00OO00oo

Izzy's eyes cracked open, panic seeping in as he was completely unaware of what was going on. He scrambled out of the pod, tripping and falling face first onto the beach.

Spitting out grit and sand, he shook his head and tried to focus.

"Where am I... and WHO am I?" He whispered aloud, the only memories gracing his mind being that of such vagueness, it would hardly qualify as help.

His throat felt clogged, and after a few hard pounds, he coughed up a cyan-colored glob of... something. What alarmed him was the slight sizzling sound it made when it hit the ground.

He remembered... he was trained. For something... but what?

Deciding it would be better to take action, he stood up and went over to survey the unorthodox vehicle he had arrived in.

And some generous poking, he found a few things that would definitely come of use.

Within was a small satchel; containing food and water. With it was also what looked to be a recorder and an envelope with a waxy feel to the touch.

Pocketing the recorder and slinging the satchel over his shoulder, Izzy ripped open the envelope.

Glory be to mankind, Agent. If you are successful reading this after you have departed in your stasis pod, you are most likely in the future.

You may have noticed a colored fluid excreting from parts of your body. Do not panic, this is a normal part of the process of the ASL enhancements.

While your body re-adjusts to the material, it is assumed that you may have memory loss. This should also be temporary, with full capture of your memories once the fluid has settled well.

Be aware that it is highly recommended you dispose of proof that you had even been where you are, as whatever life forms exist now may not be friendly. There is a self-destruction button on the right side inner panel inside your stasis pod.

Izzy took a deep breath, processing the information that had just been given to him. He honestly had nothing better to do than following the instructions that had been left by... whoever wrote that letter.

Izzy was long gone in the forest by the time the small explosion rang out through the shrubbery.

Unfortunately for him, he didn't the concealed pitfall until it was too late.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Sticky situation

 _ **A/N: You might be asking "What sorcery is this!? Two chapters in one day?" It is mostly because Fridays-Sundays are the only time I can really work on it. Izzy is also a derivative of a famous scientist (if that is what you consider him to be) and if you guessed it I could give your OC a cameo if you want. I guess that already offering incentive like that is kind of a jerk move considering I am not truly confident in my own writing, and this is only the second chapter. Am I setting it up to much, or no? Oh well, enjoy the chapter (hopefully)!**_

 _ **(POST UPDATE A/N:) You may be wondering "But Panda-senpai, why all the changes?" Well my dear 12 readers, my writing is subpar at best. When I first write a chapter, I am USUALLY satisfied with it. Recently, based on self-evaluation and traffic graph trends, I need to REALLY step up my game. And so it begins (technically it began last chapter but, whatevs.)**_

What felt like an eternity was in reality only a minute or two. Izzy found himself in a subterranean dugout. Slightly annoyed by the predicament, Izzy took a deep breath, and regretted it instantly. The smell of earth was overwhelming, and Izzy pinched his nose. Trying to stand, he muffled a cry of pain before falling back over. He went pale when he saw a piece of wood the size of his hand sticking out of his leg. He glanced near the entrance, and sure enough, now broken wooden spike sat there, almost mocking him. Fresh blood was not pouring, but flowing viciously onto the dirt, soaking it with a rich cyan blue.

The color was the most disturbing part, Izzy was pretty sure he wasn't a scientist, but he definitely knew that blood once oxidized became red. The hissing noise it made as it hit the ground wasn't doing his ears or sanity any favors, either. Forcing down a bit of bile from the grotesque nature of the wound, he pulled his body along farther into the alcove. Realizing the wood would splinter even more, he closed his eyes and gritted in teeth in preparation. The pain as he pulled out the oversized splinter was excruciating. Panting and whimpering softly, he let the wound pour out a bit of more blood before attempting to patch it.

He tore out a buckle and strap from his satchel, and tied his jumpsuit to pseudo-seal the wound. As soon as the deed was done, he was assaulted by a wave of intense pain in his head. By the time he had opened his eyes after the pain faded, he was in the middle of nowhere, a bright light illuminating the entire landscape and making all but two figures impossible to make out.

" _You'll never secure a spot on the team if you can't patch a tiny cut" the kneeling figure said. "I wouldn't exactly call this tiny, you nearly amputated my leg!" the other retorted._ Izzy attempted to call out to them, but he found his mouth was sealed shut and his legs refused to move. " _I swear, Izzy, I don't know why I keep helping you. Here, i'll patch it up, but this is the last time!"_

As soon as the vision came it was gone, resulting in Izzy snapping his head up and hyperventilating. He was still in the dugout, a fresh layer of sweat coating the inside of his suit. How much time has passed? Judging by the light filtering in from the opening, only an hour or so had passed. But still, an hour for what felt like a minute vision? Who were they, and why did Izzy sound familiar? Propping himself up to a sitting position, he pulled out a sealed can of corn, still slightly cold from the cryo chamber.

Realizing he had no can opener, he resorted to tearing the lid off with his teeth. Izzy sighed to himself, it was clear this would be his stop for the day. Izzy had woken up a few times during the night, mostly to expunge increasing amounts of the ASL fluid that still wreaked havoc with his body. As a result, by the time the first light of dawn rolled around, Izzy woke up, still tired and quite unhappy. He checked his wound to see if it was festering. What he saw made him do a double take, there was still a cut, but the skin appeared to be already clotting and creating a small scar.

He assumed it to be the work of the fluid; after all, the people who sent him here did mention it "enhanced him" so he assumed some genetic modification was in order. He actually did find alcohol in his supplies, and he ASSUMED it was for medical reasons. After all the drinking limit was 21 and… wait. How old was he? Izzy groaned, he didn't even know how old he was or what he looked like! He was assuming he was at least in his teen years based on his height and muscles, no way was he twenty or older.

One out of the dugout hole, he noticed a small metal plaque next to it. On it scribbles that can only be described as a cross between bad internet fan drawings and weeaboo japanese. The symbols and flow of the writing was completely incoherent to Izzy. Either he was in Japan and a madman lived here, or this was the work of a new sentient lifeform. Frowning, he trudged on his way through the underbrush.

o0(In Octo Valley)0o

"Gramps, we're home!" came the voice of a young inkling, sporting a pinkish-black motif. Accompanying her was a similar looking one, but with a greenish-black themed outfit and grayer hair. The green girl dumped a container with a catfish looking creature spouting sparks out of its' whiskers onto the table.

A shriveled, elderly looking inkling came out of the only other room in the shack he called home. There were pictures of octopus looking creatures plastered on the sides of the walls, and a certain gleam in the elder's eyes that were a testament to his experience. "Aye, great work buckos! You never fail to warm my old three hearts. Anyhow, I know ye just got back from a mission but there is something that demands our attention."

The duo gave him a quizzical look before sitting at down at a small table. "Marie and I have a special for the weapon update later today, but I think we have a few hours." the green one explained. "But I am sure we can make time for grandpa, right Callie?" Marie said innocently. Callie rolled her eyes at Marie before turning back to the elderly squid. "Anyway, what would you have us do, anyway grandpa?" The squid in question puffed up before pulling out a set of photos and laying them on the table. "These are photos of seagull beach at around 6:00pm yesterday." Depicted in the photos, there were explosions and smoke rising from the sea accompanied by shadow pictures of a figure retreating into the jungle. "The Octarians may have sent an agent to infiltrate Inkopolis!"

"Grandpa, I know this is a serious mission, but why do you have surveillance on a random beach?" Callie questioned. "Research purposes?" the squid offered. Both Callie and Marie gave him a death stare. "Eh heh heh." he said, clearing his throat. "Anywho, I want you two to investigate the area without drawing too much attention to yourselves. Just do a scouting report and come back."

"Aye aye cap'n!" the girls responded jubilantly.

o0(Jungle near Seagull Beach)0o

Izzy was having a really bad day, his leg wound itched like crazy, he probably attracted several predators with the scent of his blood, and his ASL fluid didn't want to give him a break. Every few steps he had to stop to spit out a blob, withering the plant life beneath him. And to top it off, the veins in his right arm out had burst out into a glowing spiderweb of bluish light, and pulsated frequently. It was like some sort of mutant rash, and it hurt like hell.

Stopping for the thousandth time, he spat out a large wad of cyan gloop. Before he could get moving again, he tensed up, and hearing something coming in his direction from the fauna, he leaped up and grabbed onto a thick tree trunk. Dragging his body up, he willed himself not to cry out in pain as his leg protested every movement. Atop his nature post, he saw two creatures emerge from the thicket of leaves in the direction he was walking.

They appeared humanoid enough, with distinct features such as fangs protruding from the upper jaw, and hair that at closer inspection was… tentacles? They were also blabbing to each other in some sort of gurgling language. Either they were also midgets, or they were adolescents, by human standards at least. They stopped suddenly below the tree he was perched on. He caught his own breath, the wound on his leg had reopened and a small stream of blue blood fell off, dripping rhythmically onto the ground in front of the two creatures.

Uttering a short "FUCK", he lept off the trunk onto the next closer one, before dropping to the ground and breaking into a sprint. He heard a startled cry from the creatures, and it was obvious they were giving chase. Heart hammering in his chest, and sped through the forest, uncaring to where he ended up.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Seeing the world through a cyan-tinted lense

 _ **A/N: I just spent all day at the Ford auto reveal. I can't tell you what I saw caused I signed a paper and yada yada, but they were REALLY cool. I think they release info on wednesday, so have fun with that. By the by, do you guys want constant updates (1-2 a day on weekends, 2-4 a week) and short chapters? Or do you want longer updates (1 for the weekend, 2 a week) and longer chapters? Also, I am aware my grammar and knowledge of Splatoon physics is not amazing, so seriously, PM or leave it along with a review so I can revise it! I also enjoy as many reviews as possible, even negative ones. Negative ones are usually the best, as they tell me what I am doing wrong (if you are not a jerk about it :P) but the positive ones are always nice to see. Also, no, this is not the end of world/character building. I just wanted to make sure this story actually relates to Splatoon and is not just a crappy sci-fi story :D. By the way, I am a learning artist, so if you guys want me to draw a cover depicting what I think Izzy looks like, I will give it my best shot. Also, I add in a reason on how Izzy will communicate with inklings… it may be fairly stupid though, so fair warning.**_

 _ **(POST A/N:) Oh boy, I sure royally fucked up this one. Not only did I NOT post the ORIGINAL Author's notes the first time, I also realized how stupid this chapter is. But I need to keep it in for plot reasons, so prepare for only some minor grammatical and phrasing tweaks that I caught. And yes, I did see the Continental, Raptor, and da other one in person before most other people did. I even got a photo with Bill Ford! I kind of really want a Raptor now.**_

"Well that was strange." Callie murmured as she pulled out some blood that had landed on her tentacles. "And what is this stuff it was leaking? Pretty sure this isn't ink." Marie tapped her foot and scratched her chin. "I dunno, I guess the best thing to do is finish surveillance like the Cap'n asked us to."

oo0OO0oo

Izzy sped through the underbrush, adrenaline pumping through his body, the green of the forest turning into a blur as he raced pass. Izzy was fairly certain they would catch him if he didn't find a hiding spot soon, the wound on his leg tearing slightly wider with every step. It didn't help he left a trail of blue behind him, a stark contrast to the colors of the forest. Izzy stopped at a small clearing, bending over to catch his breath, his heart hammering in his chest. He didn't hear any sounds of pursuit, so he slid to the ground against the back of a huge oak tree. Breathing heavily, he touched his now reopened wound. He instantly regretted the decision, and withdrew his hand, hissing loudly.

He sat there, drifting in and out due to the profusely bleeding wound. After an hour or two, he checked his leg, the wound had resealed once again, but the tissue had left a major scar this time as a result. Sighing before running his hand through his hair, he dragged himself to his feet, and paused. There, a bush rustled every so slightly, and only a slight growl could be heard before a wolf-like creature leaped out, jaws bared for Izzy's neck.

Shocked for a moment by the abruptness of the attack, Izzy took an wobbly step back, tripping over a tree trunk and falling onto his back with a loud thud. The creature pounced on his chest, teeth gnashing as a liquid akin to paint or ink dribbled from its' mouth onto his exposed skin. Izzy brought his right arm around, and attempted to strangle the beast, when the spiderweb of blue light once again blossomed in his arm. As soon as he made contact with the wolf, however, time seemed to freeze

Izzy found himself quite low to ground, making his way swiftly across the forest floor. He didn't know where he was going, but instinct told him he had almost made it… so very close! His vision then cut to him pinned against a wall by several of the wolf creatures, drawing in closer, jaws snapping and popping as they sized up their prey. He was then limping through the forest, licking his wounds when he picked up a scent almost forgotten to his nose. Human. He broke into a full sprint, passing other startled animals. There, the human had its' back turned to him. He was about to bite into the soft flesh of the neck when… _wait_. That was him. Izzy was staring at himself, his mouth gritted as his right arm came around and…

Izzy gasped loudly as he returned to his own body, the wolf slumped over next to him, unconscious or dead. His whole body shaking wildly, he looked at his arm, now pulsating with waves of blue light. The wolf had started to stir, its' eyes darting around before settling once again on Izzy. " _Stop"_ Izzy said. The words felt weird, almost alien, something was off about it. This seemed to have an immediate effect on the beast, as it stopped growling and now stared at him with intense curiosity. " _Human speak lupus?"_ the beast said. Izzy stopped cold, did the wolf just speak to him? " _Do you just speak?"_ Izzy said, questioning the canine as it put its' nose between its' paws. " _No, you speak lupus to me."_ it replied, ruffling the fur across his body. " _I... "_ Izzy stopped himself, and made a monumental effort to speak English. "Can you understand me still?" The creature paused, before saying " _Human went back to gurgle, is okay to eat?"_ It took Izzy a moment before he realized the gravity of his situation. He tapped into the memories of another sentient being, and absorbed knowledge from it. Staring at the wolf, he tried his best to go back to lupus. " _No, go find something else to eat."_ content with the small whine that accompanied his statement, Izzy brushed himself off before attempting to find a path out of the labyrinth of a forest he was in.

The wolf had seemed to stay put, and Izzy heaved a sigh of relief. It was one thing to be pursued by humanoid squid creatures, but to be accompanied by a talking dog? That was just plain ridiculous.

It was pretty clear Izzy had no idea where he was going, he wandered around for another hour before grunting in frustration and taking a break. "Too many tree." Izzy complained. He blinked, before realizing what he had just said. "Great, now I even talk like a wolf, too." He was about to stand up and continue on his way before he felt a great deal of ASL fluid boil his stomach. Izzy moaned, before coughing up a mixture of blood and ASL. He fell back to the ground, his head breaking out in a feverish sweat. _Guess this is stage two_ Izzy glumly thought. Resigned to another night of sleeplessness, he crawled over to a tree and rested his head against it.

oo0OO0oo

"Cap'n Cuttlefish!" the excited voice of Marie called out. The door to the ramshackle hut opened, and the old inkling in question peered out before grinning widely as he recognized his grand squids "Come on it, lads! I have some leftover crabby cakes and some tea for ye." he said. Callie trailed behind Marie, mumbling quite intensely to herself. One the trio was comfortably seated at the small wooden table, Marie started blabbing about everything that had happened in such a rapid pace, even Callie could hardly understand her. "Woah woah,slow down bucko." the Cap'n said. "Give me the gist of the situation, ye hear?" Marie paused and took a deep breath, before Callie cut her off. "We went to investigate the site like you ordered, and found a suspect. And before you ask, no it wasn't an octoling. We aren't exactly sure what 'it' is, but it was obviously wounded, and was leaving behind a fluid from its' leg. I managed to catch some, and it appears to be acidic to the touch, but appears to be very similar to ink. I also scanned around at the actual explosion site, and found shreds of a weird substance." She put a capsule containing the waxy paper fragments from the envelope Izzy had torn a while back.

The Cap'n absorbed all Callie had told him, and examined the contents of the container. He frowned, and scratched his bushy mustache, deep in thought. "The only other time I saw something similar to this kind is when I first met Judd…" he trailed off. His eyes lit up like fireworks before grinning widely. "Girls, I need you to do one more thing for me…"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Deja Vu?

 _ **A/N: So, I decided to browse through the other stories on the site. After reading some of the other ones, I seriously considered stopping this story out of pure lack of quality… but I made a promise, and I intend to keep it. Oh well, guess your writing only gets better when you actually write. I am really hesitant to write this chapter, as I fear I am diving into a cliche wrapped with trope topped off with stereotypical. But… plot progression and conflict beats out logic? Enjoy the chapter anyway :D ! I'll have authors notes at the end, also. Mostly to iron out my schedule and some things I can only reveal after this chapter.**_

Al was a pretty straightforward guy. He was big, had muscles, and had smart people to tell him who to punch. It wasn't that bad of a life really, he got to pound on little weaklings and watch them squirm, and the smarty smarts resolved their issues. At Least, that how his life HAD been going. That had all went to pegasus dung when his employers asked him to take part in some sort of freezer test run or something. Turned out he woke up in the future, with his only thought being a strong desire to beat the shit out of the people who sent him here. And when he found a severed tentacle running around like a mouse in cage? Well then he really got angry. What he couldn't understand or didn't like, got his fist.

After kicking the thing around for a bit, Al was about to go in for a punch between the eyes, when his right arm lit up like a fucking christmas tree. He had been coughing up the stuff since he got here. Granted, it would pretty cool to intimidate someone by spitting blood-red acid at them, but the stuff had made him feel more than sick. Grumbling about magic government drugs, he paid it no heed until he actually touched the thing. He had seen a bunch of things he couldn't discern if he got it on replay.

After shaking his head to break out of the memory, was about to bring the pain when…

" _w- wait!"_ the creature called out, quivering with fear. Al stared at the thing before pulling it closer, eye to eye. "You better start talkin' real fast." He grumbled.

oo0OO0oo

Izzy was having a pretty decent day for once. The trees were thinking, and the chatter of the wildlife grew dimmer as he reached the border between the forest and whatever lie beyond it. He had stopped hacking up ASL, so he assumed he had fully adjusted now, and to be honest, it felt great. It was as if his entire body got a vacation to a Caribbean hot spring for a year, his joints moved like well oiled machinery, his lungs regulated the air he brought it in greater amounts, and he could lift decent-sized logs out of his way with no problem. He had even accidently grown fangs at one point, and had a strange craving for meat, but both went away before they caused any issue. The only major problem troubling him was his memories. In short, they were still gone, and he hadn't gotten a flashback since that day in the dugout.

Pushing his dark thoughts to the back of his mind, he actually tried to fully enjoy his time today. He hadn't given much thought to where he was going to go, maybe he should try to find the weird squid like creatures he saw earlier. He assumed his lingual capabilities were not limited to dogs only, so if he could get in contact it was possible he could learn the language fairly easily. Stopping for a brief rest, he checked his supplies. He had one can of beans, and a water bottle that was half-empty. He would have to find something to replenish his food and water source soon anyways, so his safest bet was to either hunt and gather, OR find a city, if the natives had evolved enough to the point of them building one. Brushing away the last branch from his face, he found himself staring in awe at the sight before him. A huge metropolis lay out before him, huge buildings that went beyond the clouds gleaming with the sun's' rays. A bridge stretched out across a vast body of water, connecting the metropolis to another smaller, but equally as impressive, city.

Izzy was pretty sure he had never seen something like this is his entire life, he spent most of it at the institute training for whatever he was doing now. He was so mesmerized he almost didn't hear the screeching noises on the track as a train was about to come through the tunnel he was near. Throwing himself back into the thicket he had come from, he peered out from between the cracks and crevices in the branches. The train grinding to a halt, letting out a surprisingly catchy tune before depositing several of the ink creatures onto the loading area. It was hard to see from the other side, but most of them were milling around, on what appeared to be cellular devices.

Perfect, he could wait until nightfall, find a ink creature alone, a HOPEFULLY extract knowledge without harming it. He was already shifting gears in his mind, formulating a perfect plan- hey is that a shirt in front of him? That was there before- OH SHIT SHIT SHIT, INK THING DIRECTLY AHEAD!

oo0OO0oo

"Yeah, real funny James." A blue colored inkling yelled out to his friend, who was giggling furiously. He rolled his eyes, and waited for the train to pass before crossing the track to retrieve his favorite shirt (it was a gift from his… friend girl after all). James had went on without him, probably getting his own bag from the staff. He bent down to pick up the shirt, when a glowing blue hand shot of the bush, directly onto his neck, his yelp of surprise being silenced by the ASL activating.

oo0OO0oo

Izzy was left extremely exhausted by the process, even just tapping into the language had wiped him out!. The memories as a result were rambly and incoherent at best, so he was still left in the dark on how the basics of their culture worked. Aware the unconsciousness of the drain would be very finite, he pulled himself to his feet before retreating along the side of the forest, stopping when he reached a low wall that probably led into an Alleyway. He was tempted to jump it now, but the combination of daylight, his odd clothing, and the exhaustion left him with the thought of sleeping until night. Izzy crawled once more beneath the canopy of the forest, and taking in the strong smells of earth and nature, he simply said "This is the last time." The forest didn't respond, but Izzy knew it would miss him dripping blood all over it. Yawning softly, he pulled out the recorder and recited all that had transpired the past few days. Feeling his eyes closing rapidly, he finished his log and was asleep almost the moment he turned the device off.

 _ **A/N: So how was it? I was very tempted to stay away from the troped of there being "an evil version of you with your powers!" so I changed it to a more brains/brawn relationship. And yes, Al's ASL glows red instead of blue, speculate all you want on that. I don't really plan on adding more humans in, but IF I do, they will also probably use variants on ASL. I'm going to REALLY try to get out decent 1k word chapters everyday, but life is life and I may have delays. Sorry in advance if you check tomorrow and nothing is here for you! I've been analyzing my writing, and tried to improve upon certain points during this chapter like detailing, and using a plethora (- :D) of words. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and remember, reviews are always welcomed (along with maybe a follow or two? ;D)**_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Street Urchin

 _ **A/N: I'm addicted to minute maid lemonade cans, someone send help!**_

The night held a lazy glow, stars and moon alike illuminating the landscape with soft light. Not many inklings were out at this time of night; most of them were already fast asleep from a day of Turf Wars. That didn't stop the duo from slinking around, stopping across from the train station, one of the figures knelt down, observing the tracks their quarry had been leaving behind.

Satisfied they were going in the right direction, the figure strode forward when- "ACHOO!". "Marie!" Callie half whispered half scolded. "Try to cover it next time, we don't need anyone checking on any commotion, Especially if they have a chance of recognizing us." Marie wiped her nose before replying sheepishly "I know, I know. Sorry about that!" before offering a toothy grin to her cousin. Callie rolled her eyes, and continued on the path. They were close now, she could feel it.

Unknown to Izzy, the weekend had finally come. And with it, free time for Callie and Marie. What better way to spend it than by chasing down an elusive forest dweller? Unlike Izzy who had mostly done circles, the duo actually knew their way around the forest, and it wasn't long before they followed his tracks to the train station. Callie and Marie were actually some of inkopolis' best known pop stars: The Squid Sisters.

To keep anyone from recognizing them, Callie had donned a plain white bandana and a fishing-type hat, while Marie wore a beanie and a pair of sunglasses. It wasn't the most elaborate of disguises, and anyone who knew them would see through the facade in a heartbeat up close. Luckily, not many people were around the station this late at night.

It wasn't very long before they saw a lump lying outside the alley to inkopolis plaza, obviously sleeping as evidenced by the soft snoring and rhythmically rising and falling of its' chest. "Alright, nice and slow. We need to check a few things." Callie stated, before pulling out a notebook with a list of tests to perform. "First test! We need to-" Callie stopped mid-sentence, before noticing Marie was already making her way towards to creature. "Marie!" she hissed frantically "Get back over here before it wakes up!"

oo0OO0oo

Izzy let out a small yawn before cracking his eyes open and surveying his surroundings. His search ended abruptly when they landed on two figures covered in shadow, one attempting to stealthily make its' way towards him. "Ha ha… hi there?" the closest figure offered him. Izzy's arm had taken on a light bluish glow, the ASL sensing his stress increase. Noticing this, the one that had spoken had begun to back up slowly, the other figure still standing quiet and still. A few minutes passed as the two groups stared each other down, before Izzy abruptly pushed himself up, and ran for the wall. He heard to two yell out as he jumped, and pulled himself over before landing roughly on pavement.

oo0OO0oo

"Oh great, we lost him." Marie whined, pouting. "We need to get to it before anyone sees it, it would cause a panic! Or at the very least, gossip and rumours." Callie said, scratching her chin. "Judd said that if this is the same creature he assumed it was, it is highly intelligent. We could maybe reason with it?" Marie thought for a moment "Yeah, but I don't think he would speak inkish. Maybe we should call Agent 3? He is in town right now."

oo0OO0oo

Izzy brushed himself off, before freezing in place. Next to him was a tall, lanky looking person with what looked like an urchin resting upon his head. Next to him were what he assumed were snails, also fast asleep. Behind him lay the shells of many empty shells, along with a screwdriver. One of the snail's' eyes popped open, stared at Izzy, and began to shake. The movement caused the other snails to open their eyes, and suddenly there was a small chorus of clacks as the snails all vibrated into each other.

A single purple eyelid raised slowly, and a green eye from the urchin peered out at him. The urchin tightened his grip around the screwdriver to his side before emitting a grunt. "Think you could pull a fast one on ol' Spyke, eh mate? What are you, a cop? You ain't looking very fresh." Several things ran through Izzy's mind at the same time. A. This was a literal street urchin. B. Urchins speak squid. C. He sounded like he came straight out of Britain. And D. What in the name of all that was holy did "Fresh" mean?

Izzy really didn't want to get too involved in the affairs of the city-dwellers, whether they were squid or otherwise. He turned around, giving a small 'hmph' before walking confidently through the alleyway. Once he was out of sight, he slowed his pace to a crawl, taking care not to make any noise. Coming to a corner, he glanced around it and saw a group of five ink creatures conversing near the open door of an apartment. Narrowing his eyes, he decided it would be best to wait them out before attempting to make any moves. Laughing, the small group dispersed, all heading in different directions.

The one who he assumed lived at the apartment stood in the doorway and stretched, before staring at the exact location Izzy was hiding. Refusing to panic, he froze, stiff as a branch. The ink creature shrugged and actually walked into the open plaza area, closing the door behind him, he took what was presumably the side alley on the opposite side of the building. His curiosity peaked, Izzy advanced around the corner, clinging to the shadows, prepared for the ink creature to jump out at any time.

Once he reached the corner, he took a very small peek… and saw nothing. Continuing down his new path, Izzy went from careful to full blown endangered. The alley was dark and noiseless, twisting and turning as the bends rounded one another. His mind was telling him no, but his recklessness and adventure sense were saying yes. Against his better judgment, he slipped into the alleyway.

He spotted the ink creature (he needed to find a better term soon) with what looked to be a gun out, pointing it at what appeared to be an octopus humanoid. Eyebrows raised, Izzy scooched closer to listen in.

The ink...ling? Yeah that sounds right, the inkling pointed the rifle type weapon at the octoling before growling out a command. "Drop your weapon and your ink tank, and slide them over to me without breaking them." The octoling complied, obviously frightened by the whole ordeal. "Please sir." it sputtered, hands in the air. "I don't want to be here, it was a mistake I swear!"

The inkling picked up the tank and gun, before holstering the weapon and slinging the tank over his shoulder. "I'll help you." He said simply. Izzy was thoroughly confused, wasn't just pointing a gun at the octopus? Were octopi and squids separated by racial prejudice? He was so caught up in his thoughts, he missed the half end of the conversation. The inkling still had his weapon pointed at the octoling's back, but his finger was off the trigger.

Izzy started to sneak away, when his foot caught on a metal can, both the inkling and octoling alike froze before the inkling whisper-yelled a "Wait!" Before Izzy could fully retreat, he turned around, still in the shadows and watching them closely. "This isn't what it looks like…" the inkling began.

"Cut it." Izzy said gruffly "I'm not going to tell anyone. Besides, even if I did, they wouldn't believe me." The inkling looked mildly surprised, the octoling even more so. "Thank you sir, I don't know how to repay you Mr…?" Izzy was amused with the response he received. "I think they would be too focused on me to care about the octoling there anyway. And I am not your elder, but you can call me… Delta." With that, Izzy disappeared around the corner, he had a lot of stuff to think about.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Through the dark of Night

 _ **A/N: "Oooo, you are in so much trouble!" - Evil me. "Why? I already fixed like half the entire story I have D:" - Me. "You totes stole a scene from like a story." "Care to tell me which story that is?" "No, it is more fun to see if more people notice and harp on you for it, but seriously, reconsider rewriting that section." "Aren't you supposed to be evil?" "Well yeah, but I can't exist if you get all mopey for accidently pissing off someone by stealing their story :D" Anyway, I read up on the stories mentioned I borrowed creative liscense from, and this was my reaction:**_ _ **/gifs/comic-con-sdcc-jontron-XkyYjj3E7cAFO**_

 _ **Might was well follow the rest of it and add my own twists right? Despite positive feedback on it, I kinda feel shitty for doing that, accident or not. If either author of the stories I have imitated feels that they would like that part removed, tell me and I'll redo it.**_

 _ **(POST UPDATE A/N:) I'm getting feedback on my average grammar usage! Huzzah! Anyway, I touched up a few spelling errors and ironed out some perspective ones as well. Starting chapter 8, I'll be adding in more page breaks. Call me lazy, but when most of your writing is done on a mobile device that's smaller than a usual phone, I get some slack, right? Riiiight…? Something about starting a new paragraph every time someone speaks irks me… don't know what, and I still appreciate the advice, but ugh. I think I will try to do it more often, but for the most part the speech will stay the same.**_

Izzy would have honestly liked to be back in the cryochamber right about now. His trek through the forest was mostly uneventful, save for the wolf attack. The second he got here, weird shit starting happening. For one, he was being pursued by someone, he met a literal street urchin, and he saw some sort of illegal smuggling shit going on in a back alley. Not that it really mattered, he couldn't exactly reveal himself to the populace, and was lucky enough the inkling didn't notice he wasn't one himself.

After wandering around for a bit, he was surprised at how little inklings were out. It was the dead of the night, but still, only that one occurrence? He eventually found an odd-looking sewer grate, strange markings and words covering the sides. He made a mental note that he couldn't read ASL gained languages, before crouching to get a close look. Hearing distant footsteps, he flattened himself against the side of a snack machine, and looked cautiously around the corner.

As long as clones didn't exist, Izzy swore that the inkling walking this way was the same one that smuggled that octoling to wherever it went. The inkling eventually reached the same sewer grate was hiding near, before turning into a… literal squid… and sliding through the grate. Unable to find a latch to follow him, Izzy was content with waiting for him to come back. After all, he couldn't be gone ALL night, and he did have a… guest staying over. It was a solid hour or two before the inkling found his way back to the grate. Brushing himself off and mumbling about someone called Callie, he made his way in the general direction of his apartment. In his mind, Izzy had two options. Try to find a secluded alley to hide in for the day, or attempt to gain the inklings help.

He went with the later, and stepped out from behind the dispenser. "You." he called out. The inkling turned around, a quizzical look on his face. "You're that guy from the alley…" he murmured. "Did the Octarians send you to retrieve that octoling? If so, take her. I planned on helping her get back anyway." Izzy quirked his eyebrow at the information he revealed. "No, I have nothing to do with the Octarians, but I also have nothing to do with the inklings. I need your help, and I am aware you're already harboring this octoling, but I have nowhere else to go." The inkling went from curious to confused. "If you're not an octoling or inkling, what are you? And why me of all people?"

Izzy took a step fully into the moonlight, the rays catching in the metallic alloys of his jumpsuit and causing him to take on a ghostly appearance. The ASL in his right arm pulsed with a rhythmic beat and small light. Izzy smiled inwardly, taking a slight pleasure of the shock and awe on the inkling's face.

oo0OO0oo

"So… do you need a place to sleep?"

"The floor will be adequate."

"Are you hungry?"

"Not enough to warrant eating, no."

"Are you going to tell me anything about yourself?"

"Not unless the situation deems it necessary."

"Do you have anything to change into?"

"Do I secrete a foul odor?"

"No it's' mostly hard to look at you without feeling inadequate."

Izzy rewarded the inkling's attempt at a joke with a quiet snort. Hamil wasn't muscular, but he wasn't exactly skinny either. Izzy also held the advantage for being genetically modified, so he gave Hamil credit where it was due.

He had seen the octoling peer around the corner as he came in, and saw her face turn red as a tomato as she presumably went back to where ever she was staying. Izzy, feeling self conscious, took a hard look at himself in the bathroom mirror. And wow, he was ripped. It didn't help the suit was nearly skin tight, and displayed his abs for all to see.

Never being one for attention, he was keen on possibly getting more modest gear to change into, but he couldn't let the inkling know that directly. He had decided to take the 'stoic quiet' feel after the inkling had agreed to accommodate him.

"If you have something my size to change into, sure." The inkling scratched his head before shrugging. "Guess you'll be sleeping that." Izzy laughed softly, "Still better in here than on the dirt." The inkling nodded before rounding the corner. Izzy was closing his eyes, letting gentle sleep overtake him… "Oh, and it's Hamil." Izzy cracked one of his eyes open. "Hmm?" he mumbled. "Hamil." the inkling said sheepishly. "That's my name. You told me yours was Delta?" Izzy nodded, and the inkling went off to bed.

 _ **A/N: Sorry about the short chapter, but getting through this chapter without screwing it up was hard today. It was even a chapter I have been looking forward to! Anyway, I promise you'll get a longer chapter tomorrow to make up for it :D.**_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Low Key

 _ **A/N: So, did you catch why I named Hamil, Hamil? I don't expect you to, but it is a derogative term of a species of squid. Bad puns aside, you're getting a longer chapter today! (Cause panda is a jerk and did like a 700 word one yesterday). I'm also collaborating with another member on something big, I can't really tell you what yet, but expect it to be very interesting. Also, chapter 4 has like 73 visitors, while chapter 5 has like 80. Wazzup with that?**_

Despite having an actual heated carpet to sleep on, Izzy woke up very early in the morning. Since he still couldn't read the language (the clock appeared garbled) he assumed it was at least 6:00 due to the lazy gray light filtering in through the window. Getting up and stretching, he was at a lost for something to due. He assumed he couldn't cook human food to begin with, he didn't even want to try messing with whatever they ate. The TV or radio would wake up Hamil and the octoling, so Izzy resorted to doing pull ups on a low hanging pipe. Losing count at around 150ish, he resorted to planning what he would do once he had full info and everything that had happened after he got transported here.

He didn't even notice the octoling approach until he heard a timid "Hello." Dropping down from the pipe, he turned around and took a good look at the octoling. Nervous with his lack of a direct response, she started to shuffle away. "Wait" He called out. "Can you answer a few questions for me?"

She nodded, and Izzy took a deep breath before continuing. "First, what's your name? Second, what time is it? And third, what exactly are you in correlation to Hamil?" Absorbing his words, she thought for a bit before responding. "My name is Berenice, but people just call me B. I think it's like 6:30 in the morning, and the last one is a bit complicated." Izzy shrugged casually "I don't have anything better to be doing, fire away." She sat down across from him and was silent for a minute before starting.

"I am an Octarian, and my subspecies is known as an octoling. We have been enemies to the inklings ever since the great turf war, after the inklings stole the great zapfish…"

Izzy caught the hesitance in her voice, and raised his eyebrow. "You don't seem too confident in that statement…"

She sighed, before running a hand through her hair (tentacles?) and sinking farther into the couch. "It's like despite everything I have been told, and everything I was trained to do… I find myself not wanting to do it."

Izzy let out a bittersweet laugh before simply saying "Welcome to Earth."

oo0OO0oo

The rest of the day had gone smoothly. He had mostly exercised for its' entirety, as Hamil had taken B back to Octo Valley. Speaking of which; they should've been back by now. If his life continued following standard tropes he could expect the door opening with Hamil and B still together because - Izzy's train of thought was interrupted as he heard the door lock jingling, and sure enough, Hamil walked in with B in tow.

Izzy sighed inwardly, resigned to the fact the inklings he had first seen that night with Hamil would show up any minute now - "Delta!" Hamil called out. Izzy stood up, stretched, and walked over to the couch. "I have really bad news… first off-" "They blocked Octo Valley and now your friends are coming over for some event you forgot because you had two strangers from different species living in your house?" Izzy questioned, cutting him off.

Hamil blinked before stuttering out a yes. "How did you-" "How did I know that? Don't know, call it future vision." Hamil missed the sarcasm in the comment, and simply nodded. "We need to find a hiding place for both of you." "Assuming the rest of this goes according to how I foresee it, you probably are putting B in the closet. If your window connects to back alley, I can jump out for now." "I don't even think inklings could make that jump without hurting themselves…" Hamil stated, concern in his voice.

"Trust me" Izzy said calmly, standing up. "I won't be actually falling to the ground, I'll just hang off the windowsill and hopefully no one decides to go into the alleyway." "Alright, but be careful." Hamil mumbled, before dragging B along with him the bedroom area. If Izzy wasn't hurrying, he would've found time to make an innuendo joke.

Cracking the window open, Izzy slipped out before grabbing the edge, careful not to go into a freefall. A few minutes later, a soft knocking sound could be heard. Izzy didn't hear much the rest of the time, but the main idea was that they didn't discover B, Hamil was invited to something called a turf war later, and the names of the ones who had come over were as followed: Sepiot, Walvi, and one called Neo. He heard Hamil approach and call out a soft "Delta?". Izzy pulled himself back into view, much to the surprise of Hamil. "Jeez, you held onto that for like half an hour…" Izzy shrugged, before saying "I did like a few hundred pull ups this morning while you were still asleep, I think I can handle this."

oo0OO0oo

The rest of the day had gone by without incident. Hamil at one point had gone off to participate in turf wars, which left Izzy with B. Izzy had mostly chosen to leave her to her own things; he wasn't ignoring her, but not actively seeking interaction either. At one point, Hamil returned with a small bag. "I got us something to eat… I'm not exactly sure what you eat so help yourself to the fridge if you're hungry." Izzy waved him off. "I have something to do first anyway. He took a seat on the couch, pulled out his recorder, and relayed the events of the previous day, taking care to speak in quiet English.

Izzy didn't notice Hamil standing in the doorway of the kitchen until he was finished. "What was that you were speaking?" Hamil asked curiously. Izzy now taking notice of him, simply gave a small shrug, before returning to the inkling language. "English, one of the main languages of my kind." "How do you know inkish then?" Hamil asked. "I don't know" Izzy lied, not wanting to retell his assault on the blue inkling. He did leave him unharmed, but Hamil didn't fully know about his ASL yet. "I just woke up with it I suppose."

Hamil let out a yawn. "I'm heading to bed, you're free to do whatever for now."

"Goodnight." Izzy replied. He waited until Hamil had left before sinking once more into the carpet of the living room. He should've left by now… why didn't he? What was keeping him here?

 _ **A/N: Hue hue hue, more squid puns. Also, slight character interaction, yay! Izzy seems to be pretty anti-social right now, shame on him! Did you know I originally had a completely different outline for this chapter? Dunno why it ended up like this, but it did.**_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The mounting darkness

 _ **A/N: So, I was gone from like 7:00am-6:30pm all day at a gaming tournament. It was fun, but jeebus it took a lot out of me. My team won, and I got a decent sum of money to to pay for rent n' stuff. I stick to my half-promise of daily chapters though, so here is one I should've saved for when I was refreshed b-cuz character development n stuff! Am I using letter slang properly? I still get mixed up occasionally when I try to use it, but puns are puns. What are the chances someone connects the dots between my hint at a project in the A/N and another member's hint at a project in their A/N? Only time will tell.**_ _ **Engelska är förvirrande. Jag försöker få det rätt, och det är alltid kul att prova något nytt. Ha fun med detta genom Google Translate.**_

 _ **(POST UPDATE A/N:) Fixed some stuff. Same old, same old. Expanded the opening flashback.**_

" _You need to start taking this seriously Izzy, Cyrus said-" "Why is it always Cyrus!? Why can't I be measured as my own person, and not be expected to be something I'm not!" Izzy said shakily, the girl from before crouching next to him. "I'm not Cyrus, and he is not me. Why can't they see that Lightning?"_

 _Lightning blew stray strands of hair out of her face, before sitting down and patting the ground, beckoning Izzy to join. "I don't expect you to be Cyrus, Izzy. I do however expect you to give your best despite that." Lightning smiled and Izzy looked at her with a mix of sadness and anger._

" _The worst part is that they are right… I was never even meant to be part of this program in the first place. I'm filler, and nothing more…" Izzy was on the verge of tears, desperately trying to calm himself. "What if I fail Lightning? What if I drag you down with me?"_

 _Lightning responded instantly, her voice and eyes full of resolve. "If you fail, you can atleast say you tried. And if I wasn't there to fall with you, what kind of friend would I be? You don't have to change who you are, Izzy. Embrace it, and let it strengthen you. Come on, Richter called a meeting, and if we aren't there in ten minutes we get extra laps." She outstretched her hand, and Izzy gratefully took it, taking comfort in her grip. "Better?" She asked. Izzy nodded, and they walked off hand in hand._

"Delta!" Izzy's eyes snapped open, and fell upon a concerned Hamil, currently standing over him. Izzy just now took notice of the excess amount of sweat he was producing. "What's wrong?" Izzy asked, struggling to stand up.

"You're bleeding…" Hamil said quietly. "You also were thrashing around. You knocked over a lamp, and we heard it breaking."

"Apologies." Izzy said, holding onto a chair arm for stability. He reached up to his nose, and sure enough a small trickle of cyan blood was flowing down his face.

Hamil waved him off. "Don't worry about it. Are you okay?"

Izzy paused, not exactly wanting to relay the contents of his dream. "I'm fine, it won't happen again. Go to back to bed."

"But-" Hamil began. "Trust me." Izzy said, cutting him off.

Hamil lingered in the room for a moment before begrudgingly going to back to bed. As soon as he was sure Hamil was gone, Izzy collapsed onto the couch, rubbing his face. What was that vision about? He had to be the Izzy character, as he was the only male present. Then… who was Lightning? She obviously was a… close friend. And Cyrus… who was he, and why was he being compared to him?

For the first time, Izzy felt true hope blossoming in him; there could be other humans like him out there! He had to find out. Rushing away tomorrow morning wouldn't be the smartest plan; he still had no idea where to start. He had a start, and nothing would deter him from his goal.

oo0OO0oo

Al grinned before stopping down on the outstretched tentacle of an Octarian, the creature yelping in pain before Al yanked it towards him. "Say goodnight!" He sang cheerfully, before sticking an octo-shot replica in its' face and splatting it.

A shadowy figure sat above the makeshift arena, and checked off a name on the list of names sitting next to him. "Exeunt one potential captain…" it murmured, before turning to an octoling at his side and saying "Bring the next one in, we aren't stopping until we find a suitable commander."

oo0OO0oo

They day had gone by without anything noteworthy happening, and when the first licks of darkness had rolled around, Izzy was close to counting scratches on the ceiling for entertainment. With Hamil's permission, he rummaged around through his main closet.

After a bit of rummaging, he pulled out what looked like an acoustic guitar. The design was simple, a small black body, and five strings leading up the shaft. It was covered in designs of multi-colored ink splatters, and the tuners on the end had a small red LED on the end of each of them.

Pulling it back out, he was mostly interested in just making a few random string plucks. He unconsciously correctly tuned the instrument perfectly, so when he let out a fell belt, the calm melody surprised him, along with B, who poked her head around the corner from the kitchen.

Izzy loosened his muscles, and let his body play for him. He finished the song with a drawn out final note. Hearing a slow clap, he turned fully to face Hamil and B, who had been listening intently. A small blush rose to Izzy's face, as he coughed and carefully placed the instrument next to him before reclining into the couch.

"You're pretty good." Hamil said. "I've had that for a while now, but I couldn't really get the hang of it."

"Y-yeah." B said. "I don't think I've ever heard something like that before."

Izzy resisted the urge to raise both his eyebrows. To him, it was obvious B had a major crush on Hamil, but he seemed completely oblivious to it, or he was just attempting to hide it.

Hamil stood up and stretched. "Tomorrow I'm bringing you to see two people that I think can help with your predicament, Delta. If that's okay, of course."

"As long as they are sworn to secrecy." Izzy half-joked. Izzy had no idea what he was in for.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: What once was

 _ **A/N: Welcome to the weekend! You guys get two chapters today, so first you get a filler chapter! (Like the last two weren't…) Anyways, I hope you enjoy! If you like the story, check out A Thief's Quarrel: Izzy and A Thief's Quarrel: Dapper Thief. It is a crossover with Izzy and a master thief, and it will contain more action than this story has had so far. Since the entire chapter is a flashback, it won't be italicized. I fixed chapter 8 a little bit, some grammar issues and a rushed intro.**_

Izzy winced and couldn't help but let out a small groan. His left leg had turned into a shredded mess from the previous obstacle, the cuts so deep that bone was visible in some places. Dragging himself off to the side, he set about channeling his ASL into a concentrated burst, and his skin weaved and stitched itself back together. Testing his leg, he cursed the engineers of the new course. ASL did fix wounds, but didn't make up for lost blood. He had already been injured twice before, and was feeling slightly dizzy.

He checked the device strapped to his arm. He was third out of tenth currently, Lightning and Cyrus were slightly ahead of him, probably unhindered by the barbed wire Izzy had come across.

The light drizzle that had previously accompanied the training session turned into a vicious downpour, soaking the ground and turning the hardly packed dirt into a pool of mud. Taking a deep breath, Izzy dove back into the storm to finish the course.

oo0OO0oo

Izzy fell unto his dorm bed, the usual stiff and rigidness of it feeling like a godsend. He was both physically and mentally exhausted, and small amounts of bile worked it's way up to his sore throat as he gasped for air. His muscles finally relaxed, and Izzy was on his way towards a deep sleep. His eyes began to close slowly, the backdrop of reality fading as sleep overtook his mind.

"ON YOUR FEET CADET IZZY!" A voice loudly interrupted. Izzy instantly snapped to attention and fell to a light battle stance, not entirely sure what the person said due to him being only half conscious. One the words had registered, he changed his stance to a formal salute, recognizing the squad commander Richter. Richter and Cyrus held the position of commander meaning they had authority over all the squads, while Lightning, Simon, and Arc were squad leaders.

"Sir?" Izzy questioned, having not yet broken the formal salute pose.

Richter looked him up and down, before saying "At ease cadet. Tonight at 2400 hours, your ASL will take on defining characteristics, enhancing your natural strengths. Central command requires all units in the squad to arrive at least one hour early for measuring purposes. You know where the usual gathering hall is, so I expect you to be on time and ready for it. Any questions?" Izzy nodded his head, and Richter went to wake up the next unlucky squad mate.

oo0OO0oo

"What do you mean I don't have a defining ASL power!?" Izzy demanded, embarrassed and enraged by the ordeal.

"All the other units in your squad have shown signs of improvement to due ASL capacity. For example, your squad leader Lightning had a remarkable improvement in both agility and speed. You however, have not shown any major signs of growth in any areas. Unfortunately, this means you will be held back while the other squads progress to stage two." The man finished, boredom evident on his voice.

Izzy was devastated, everything he had worked so hard for was thrown out the window because his stupid ASL didn't work right. He was tempted to break the commissioner's nose to see how strong Izzy really was, but luckily for both of them, someone spoke up.

"Sir." Lightning began, having slipped into the room during Izzy's questioning. "Don't you think it is too early to completely erase any chance of cadet Izzy's success? He was administered with the ASL enhancements later than any other unit, and yet he has shown remarkable improvement in all areas despite that. He also had the highest versatility out of the units, being able to be matched up against any other specialist and coming out victorious because of it."

The man squinted, before turning to Lightning. "If you want your credibility on the line, I can move him along with the rest to stage 2. Know that if he does not perform as well as you say he will, loss of your squad leader status will ensue."

Lightning nodded firmly. "It's a risk I'm willing to take."

 _ **A/N: Short chapter, I know. But you are getting another (longer) one today, and I felt the need to flesh out part of Izzy's relationship with the characters mentioned in the previous flashbacks. You also got your first taste of ASL having a limit; and don't worry about Mary Sues (power wise). ASL will have many limits to be tested… but limits were meant to be broken, weren't they? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Twin Stars

 _ **A/N: So, I didn't get two chapters posted yesterday. I will spare you the details, but know that my left arm will probably be broken for a while. On the bright side, I am right handed, so I can continue this :D. Also, you get more Splatoon-ish related sorta things in this chapter. Why? Well, it has been 10k words and the closest thing I have is a reference to Turf Wars like once I think. Also, future lost. Boooo!**_

Izzy still felt the after effects of the vision. He could still hear Lightning's voice, the cold rain pelting him as he traipsed through a muddy obstacle course. Shaking the feeling off, he tried to not think about it. It added more questions to his already impressive pile of unanswered mysteries. Izzy's stomach growled loudly, and he realized he hadn't eaten or had water for the past three days. Resigned to the fact that Hamil didn't keep any water around for some reason, (seriously, how did he drink?) and the sink dispensed colored liquid that Izzy would rather not test. The food might be edible, it looked mostly like extreme seafood, so eating that should NOT be a problem.

"Good, you're awake." Izzy turned to see Hamil wearing some sort of disguise leaning against the door to his room. "If you are wondering, we were going to leave in the middle of the night. I couldn't wake you up ; were you having a nightmare again?"

Izzy shook his head. "Sorry about that. Where exactly are we going? And aren't you supposed to be taking B back as well?

"They still have the kettle to Octo Valley blocked off still, I think it is mostly because they are too lazy to unblock it. Still you can't be too careful, especially considering inkling's… strenuous relations with Octarians." Hamil explained. "I honestly have no idea what to do with you, so I'm taking you to squids who can help. My friends are coming back from their camping trip today, so I can't really afford having you both here."

Izzy nodded briefly. "I understand, I'm ready to go if you are."

oo0OO0oo

Luckily, the trip to the studio type area they had arrived at was uneventful. Hamil had lived in Inkopolis for about a year, and knew some of the back alleyway paths and side streets to take. Arriving at a conspicuous metal door adorned with many symbols that even Izzy knew meant danger, Hamil pulled out a phone shaped like a squid and made a call.

Izzy wanted to desperately leave and search for any other humans like him who had made it, but where would he start? It was better to stick with Hamil and whomever he was about to meet for now. Despite the fact Izzy had full trust in Hamil, his heart still thudded nervously in his chest.

When the door finally opened, Izzy was taken aback. Not by an oversized hulking brute of an inkling, but by two female ones who stood a good head and a half shorter than Izzy. One had white hair, and had a dress type midsection with a green and black motif, while the other had black hair with a pink and black tight fitting shirt.

Warning bells went off in the back of Izzy's mind, where had he seen these two before?

"Heya Agent 3 and friend!" the pink one cheerily proclaimed, catching Izzy off guard. She seemed oddly cheery for the situation.

The green one was quietly observing him, and Izzy returned her gaze with one of his own. Their eyes locked for a moment before she looked away and cleared her throat. Meanwhile, Hamil had been explaining the situation to the pink one, who was nodding eagerly.

"So… can it understand us?" The green one asked, prompting Izzy to give a soft chuckle.

"You could call me something more polite than 'it' you know." He said quietly

"Huh that is not at all what I expected you to sound like.. anyway sorry if we offended you! My name is Marie, what's yours?" She said, extending her hand. That was twice in the space of a few minutes Izzy was shocked by her kind and trusting personality. He reached out and gave her a handshake.

"Delta." He said simply.

oo0OO0oo

"So you're saying this Cuttlefish guy has met humans before?" Izzy questioned, taken aback by the discovery.

Callie nodded. "I believe it was during the Great Turf War that he met two humans, one female and one male. I don't know what happened to them, as grandpa would never finish that part of the story no matter how much I asked or Marie begged him." She glanced over to said squid, who was currently engaged in a conversation with Hamil in the longue, both unaware of the information Callie had told him.

"Maire called Hamil Agent 3 when she first saw him. Does that mean anything significant?" Izzy implored. He saw Callie stiffen involuntarily before replying.

"I suppose it doesn't matter telling you; after all the Cap'n might extend an invite to the team if he likes you." She murmured. "But yes, bottom line is that I am Agent 1, Marie is Agent 2, and Hamil is Agent 3. We also have two other agents you have not met yet, their names are

Walvi and Sepio. Hamil hangs out with them, so you might have seen them once or twice. Together, we form a team called a 'Splatoon'. Our Splatoon today is in charge of keeping the Octarian menace at bay. Recently, they stole the Great Zapfish; our main source of power. Without it, our reserves can only last so long."

Izzy soaked in the information, sipping a cup of water that Callie and Marie had to specially order. "So you and other operatives have been undertaking somewhat of a shadow war to reclaim this… Great Zapfish?"

She nodded. "Yes, basically. Cap'n Cuttlefish is the leader of our Splatoon; he recruits new agents and oversees our mission. In his day, he was one of the best soldiers inklings had ever known, and today he still proves to be a resourceful commander." Callie paused "He also our grandfather. Well, me and Marie's to be exact."

"So when do I meet the Cap'n?" Izzy asked.

Callie looked at her watch briefly, before smiling at Izzy. "Now, if you can actually convince Marie to move."

oo0OO0oo

The group had moved quickly, taking a route akin to the one Hamil had led Izzy on. They came to a teapot shaped structure with a grate covering the top of it. Grime and dirt caked the sides, and rust was evident on the metallic build of the grate.

"What exactly is this?" Izzy said. He had seen one before on the night he made contact with Hamil, but had never received a true explanation of what is was or what it did.

"A kettle." Hamil answered for him. "We use them to fast travel to certain spots by shifting into squid mode and sliding through them."

"How exactly am I supposed to use them? Last time I checked, I'm not mainly completely composed of liquid, and can't shapeshift." The squid trio looked at him incredulously.

"You can't?" Marie questioned. "How did Humans get around?"

"Walking and vehicles." Izzy said. "I never got to use a teleporter; they were still in beta when the flood warnings were issued, so they never really got finished."

"Vehicles seem a really inefficient way to travel, our fastest car is like 40 MPH at best." Hamil interjected.

Izzy laughed, before noticing the serious look on his face. "Really? Our fastest LAND based vehicle goes like 270 MPH. Our fastest aircraft is like over 4,000 MPH. I can see why you need these things though." Izzy said, kicking the kettle. An idea blossomed in his mind. "Say, is there just a stream of liquid that flows in a direction in kettles?"

Receiving a nod from the inklings present, Izzy grinned before continuing. "If you don't mind the collateral damage, I can just punch through the grate, and ride the stream to our destination. It's fairly rusted already, so anyone who checks will probably chalk it up to wear and tear." Hamil looked like he didn't care, Marie simply shrugged, and Callie nodded after a minute of thought.

"That is… pretty smart actually." Callie said, shrugging. "If you're up to a bit of swimming, go for it."

oo0OO0oo

A short time and more property damage later, the inkling trio and Izzy arrived near a shack in Octo Valley.

"Eugh, what even is this stuff!?" Izzy complained, shaking his body to get rid of the clingy goo.

"It's ink, what else would it be.?" Hamil said, a small smile on his face.

Izzy did a mental facepalm. Of course it was ink! They were squids and… "Wait." He began. "Don't you produce ink from your… you know what? Nevermind." Izzy shuddered at the implications of what he had just done.

Still half covered in a layer of yellow ink, and flailing about trying to rid his body of it, the grins of Marie and Hamil evolved into full-fledged laughter, while even Callie cracked a small smile at his predicament.

'Let's go." Izzy grumbled before marching over to the shack. Plastered onto it was several pictures, either of Octarians or Callie and Marie. This was presumably the right place based on the description he had received from Callie, so he rapped gently on the door.

The door flung open, and Izzy saw a withered elderly inkling. Narrowing his' eyes at Izzy, the inkling twitched his beard before shouting: "Back for more are ye? I'll show ye a true inkling!" before raising his cane, which had a flip scope attached to it. Izzy paled as a stream of green ink came straight for his face.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The Interlude

 _ **A/N: So I've been bouncing around the idea of a "prequel" to Ballad of the Fallen. It's in its' early stages, but I will say that if I go through with it, it will focus on Lightning as the main character. Don't worry (or worry if you hate this story) Ballad is far from over. Hope you enjoy this chapter, just a smaller one since I didn't want to combine this with chapter 10.**_

The trail of ink impacted Izzy square in the face… and did little more than gross Izzy out even more than he already was. "Oh gods above it got in my mouth that time!" He complained, gagging on the sour tasting liquid and re-wiping his face clear of it. "What was that for!?" he said. It wasn't everyday he had old men secrete special fluid on his- Izzy stopped that thought before he legit threw up. While Izzy regained his composure, Callie and Marie had intervened before the Cap'n began whacking Izzy with his cane.

"We're home grandpa! This is the one we sent you a letter about earlier!" Marie said, jubilant as always.

Cuttlefish gave Izzy a critical staredown before ruffling his beard and turning to his grandsquids. "Sorry bout that lasses, but an Octarian scout got lost here early today and I had to give him what for! Thought he had come back for more, I did."

The duo looked at Cuttlefish worriedly. "Are you sure it's still safe for you to be here grandpa? The Octarians might know your here now."

The Cap'n waved them off nonchalantly "I got em' right between the eyes with my bamboozler. He should be splatted for quite a long time, even though I did use non-lethal ink. Speaking of which, how did you friend over there not take any damage from it?"

Izzy having finally recovered wandered over to the group. He cleared his throat, and they turned to him. Cuttlefish beckoned Izzy to come over, and he hesitated for a moment before relenting.

"Sorry about shooting you lad, that you were an octoling sneaking up on me." Cuttlefish apologized.

"Not to be rude, but I don't think intruders knock before coming into your house." Izzy said, still a little appalled at the ammunition for the weapons inklings carried around.

Cuttlefish let out a hearty laugh. "Got me there bucko, guess my old age frays my judgement a little. Say, you look familiar…" he finished, squinting his eyes to get a closer look.

"It is probably because I am a-"

"No wait I know this!" Cuttlefish interrupted. Izzy could almost see the gears turning in his head. "Ahha! I got it! You're that one waiter at the cafe I met the other day!"

Izzy gave Calle and Marie an incredulous look. "Is he serious?" Izzy said, not sure what to think.

Marie fake coughed into her hand before nudging Cuttlefish with her shoulder. "Grandpa, try again." She said gently.

A few moments later, the realization had finally dawned on the Cap'n. "By the almighty Poseidon! You're one of them human fellows! Haven't seen you since… back in the Great Turf War! Were you Echo or Alpha?"

Izzy did a double take; two humans had appeared in a war, obviously long ago, and decided to also use military code names? "Sorry sir, I am neither. You can call me Delta. Say, do you remember what the other two humans looked like?" Izzy asked, hoping to pair the description with some of his recently returned memories.

Cuttlefish scrunched up his face, and stroked his beard with his left hand. "Can't say I recall much outside the fact one was a girl and one was a boy. Darn excellent soldiers they were though, why I remember one time-"

Cuttlefishes' monologue was cut short by a thundering boom sound somewhere below them. He instantly snapped into action, springing up with a surprising amount of dexterity for his age. "That was probably an octo weapon that fell down to the lower part of the valley! Judging by the sound it is either an octo-whirl or an octo-stomp. Agent 3!" He said, directing the last comment in Hamil's direction. "Are ye ready for a mission?" Hamil nodded, before ducking into the shack and appearing a moment later in an outfit that oddly reminded Izzy of a cross between a construction worker and a DJ.

"Girls, I need you to get suited up in-case Agent 3 needs backup." Callie and Marie nodded before repeating the action Hamil did. Cuttlefish glanced at Izzy. "Sorry to drag ye into this, but if it is an octo weapon down here, it could cause a great commotion. Can ye fight?"

Izzy thought for a split second before replying. "I can't transform into squid form or utilize… ink based weapons. However, different colors of ink don't slow me now, and I am sure no living creature could best me in a test of speed or strength."

Cuttlefish nodded. "You don't have to go if ye don't want to lad. It will be a dangerous fight."

"All the more reason I need to help." Izzy retorted, already following after Hamil and the others. He wasn't exactly sure what an octo weapon was, but he was damn well sure not going to let it hurt what he considered to be his only friends.

Grimacing at the prospect of more kettle travel, he yanked the top off the one he saw the others going down, and dived in.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Squish, Squash, Smash… The Mighty Octostomp!

 _ **A/N: It is me! Your favorite Panda! This is a short one, yessir. But this is also getting posted like 7 hours earlier than normal, and you might be getting THREE chapters today, so stay with me. **WARNING** This section has a depiction of what could be considered graphic violence to some. This is not fully necessary for the plot, so if you are easily offended or are squeamish, skip to the next chapter.**_

Izzy had braced himself for whatever horror of a war machine he had to face, and was half-disappointed when said machine was a giant cube. Assuming this was the octostomp, he couldn't fathom where it got its' name from. The two tiny legs keeping the thing upright didn't look like they were up for any major stomping, and he doubted they could propel the metal base of the cube anywhere. Hamil was circling it, wielding a neon rifle weapon similar to the one Izzy had first seen him with. He was covering the non-purple parts in a lime-green ink, which was enraging the monster as it spat purple globs of ink at him.

The beast roared, and somehow it flew straight in the air before propelling itself downwards toward Hamil. He paled, and attempted to use his squid form to escape before his leg caught in a patch of purple ink.

"Oh god, we need to help him! Who knows how long that will splat him for!" Callie exclaimed, pulling out a neon super-soaker type weapon.

Izzy ignored her and sped towards Hamil location, his veins lighting up as he prepared himself for his stupidly dangerous plan. Skidding to a halt, he threw his arms straight up and got down on one knee. Catching the machine in mid air, it hovered precariously above Hamil and Izzy alike. Even with ASL, he arms were already tiring, the massive force and weight behind the Octostomp slowly bearing down on him.

"Go!" Izzy shouted at the now free Hamil. He hesitated for a moment before dashing off to the side.

"Hold him for a little longer!" Hamil called out, before turning into a squid and working his way up the side of the cube. Izzy's arms were almost literally on fire, growing progressively hotter as he channeled his energy into his them. Just before he gave out, he heard a large popping noise, and the octo stop roared loudly, spitting ink on Izzy's body. Heaving with all his might, he threw it back and watched it skid across the ground before slowly getting back up.

Enraged, it let out an even louder roar, instantly removing the ink around them. Its' face popped out for a moment, before sinking back in and popping out some of the plates on its' sides that Hamil had used to scale it previously. Beneath the now open side of the Octostomp was a cube of pure purple ink, deadly to any inkling who touched it. Realizing he was mostly immune to ink, he had another stupid idea.

"Hamil! Do you have any bomb-type weapons?" Izzy shouted over to him

"Yeah, I got like three splat bombs on me, why?" He shouted back, avoiding the octo stomp as it attempted to crush him once more.

"Pass them to me, I have an idea!" Izzy said, running towards the the machine, it being dangerously close to leaping back up. Intercepting the splat bombs as they flew through the air, Izzy gave a defiant yell before diving into the ink cube of the monstrosity.

The overload on his senses nearly knocked him out then and there, the sweet-bitterness of the ink taste entering his mouth and his skin slightly burned to what he assumed was "lethal" ink. Fumbling with the explosives, he groped them until he heard a soft click. Closing his eyes, he was flung out a moment later when all three bombs exploded from inside the Octostomp, covering the entire area in lime-green ink, and depositing Izzy dangerously close to the edge.

Hacking up purple ink, Izzy got up, his limbs complaining from every movement. His arm lit up it pain, and he looked over to see a piece of metal shrapnel embedded in it. Izzy didn't know why he was so tired, sure he had taken in some ink, but he felt dead tired. He slowed with every movement, his breathing becoming labored. He fell to his knees, drifting out of conscious as he barely registered someone calling out his name.

" _Izzy." A soft voice called out. "It is time to get up." Izzy squinted, rolling his body to the other side._

" _Just a few more minutes…" he called out, sleep taking its' hold once more._

" _Izzy. Get up. Get up…. GET UP!" Izzy awoke in a field, his hands on the unmoving body of a person. He squinted, but didn't recognize whomever it was._

" _Hey…" he said drearily. "Are you okay?" He rolled the person over, before registering the large pool of blood he was in. Lifting his hands up, they were covered in the green liquid, as the rest flowed around him. Despite the horrendous situation he was in, Izzy couldn't scream if he wanted to. He felt… nothing. The corpse had started to move, its' wounds still streaming fresh blood down its' arms and legs._

" _Don't let this be your fate… Your powers… Use them wisely…" it gurgled out, the soulless eyes locking gaze with Izzy. "This is not where you die… you have much too much to live for. Go now, they need you back."_

 _The corpse's arms wrapped around Izzy's neck, suffocating him slowly. He still felt nothing, and when darkness came to envelope him once more, he felt nothing._


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Afraid of Thunder?

 _ **A/N: What better way to start off a new chapter after that previous one then to give you a flashback chapter? Poor Izzy, having a weird dream about blooood. Same rules as the previous flashback chapter: it won't be italicized. **IMPORTANT** However, this will actually be a full chapter from Lightning's POV. Mostly because I want to branch of from Izzy only, be also take it as a precursor to see if I like writing directly for Lightning for my prequel idea. It's gonna be another short one. On the bright side, you get three chapters today, so technically I wrote more today then I usually do? :D**_

It was a special occasion, one that called for massive celebration amongst all the squads. They were getting the weekend off. Even the staff at central control had gotten tired of the rigorous work schedule, so the government issued a necessary relaxation time for all in the program; no obstacle courses or beating the shit out of each other for two whole days! It was basically heaven, especially to Lightning. Being a squad leader was draining; she was in charge of the entire training regime and welfare of all the cadets under her. She could scarce imagine how Ritcher or Cyrus managed to get by; she was mentally exhausted from one day of leading a squad!

She was happy with mostly just laying back on her bed, soaking in the silence that blanketed the squad leaders' dorm. Arc and Cyrus were out, probably whacking each other with sticks. Despite the fact they called it "training", she didn't really understand what enjoyment they got out of it.

She debated whether or not to go outside, when she heard the first drops of rain cascade against the metal roof of the building.

"Damn place is always raining…" she mumbled to herself. Deciding to catch up on some much needed sleep, she closed her eyes and began to drift off.

A knock on the door roused her from her slumber. Yawning and rubbing her eyes, she stood up and performed basic stretches before answering the door. It could always be a surprise course run, she didn't put it past them to try.

Opening the door, she was pleasantly surprised to see Izzy standing there. It was obvious he had made his journey during the storm; he was soaked through and through and his hair clung to his head and covered his eyes in matted lumps.

"Izzy? What are you doing here? It's not that you aren't welcome but…" She trailed off.

"Oh, um central sent down some 'repair men' to service our dorm. Conveniently, it happened to be MY part of it only. Do you ehhh… mind if I stay here until the storm blows over at least?" She had a sneaking suspicion that his squad-mates had something to do with this, but probably not Izzy himself. He absolutely hated getting wet.

"Sure." She said, shifting out of the way so he could come in. After he did so, she slammed the door to make sure it stuck, before flopping back down on her bed.

Izzy was standing awkwardly in the corner shifting his feet. He coughed into his hand, before giving out a "Hey Lightning?"

"Mmm?" She asked, more content with his presence than anything else.

"Not to be rude, but did I catch you in the middle of changing or…?" He said, he face turning a light shade of red.

Looking down, she realized she was only wearing a white undershirt. She had taken her jacket off for the sake of comfort when she slept, and forgot to put it back on when she woke up. Turning her own shade of red, she also gave a nervous cough before replying. "Yeah, sorry about that. I was taking a short nap before you got here."

Once the tension had dissolved back into a comfortable silence, Lightning decided to ask a question. "Why don't you take a seat? You seem like you're good friends with Arc, I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

Izzy looked surprised. "It's just… weird being in here. I know it is pretty much the same as a standard dorm but smaller, but it wouldn't really feel right touching anything else."

She sighed to herself. He really needed to grow a backbone, there was a difference between insubordination and camaraderie. "Suit yourself." She said evenly. "Did your ASL develop any further yet?"

Izzy shook his head before looking down. "No, and they are probably going to boot me from the program soon if I don't figure it out. I try so hard… but no matter what I do I just can't get it to work."

"There you go again with selling yourself short, Izzy." Izzy looked up.

"Lightning, I just-." he began.

"Not hearing it." She declared triumphantly, before scooching over and patting the spot next to her. "Sit down this time, and THAT is an order." She said playfully.

Izzy sighed, but couldn't hid a small smile as he sat next to her. "You abuse your power, you know that?"

"Of course, but it is for the greater good!" She proclaimed, before taking on a more serious tone. "Izzy, I know you may feel different from us because you don't have full ASL yet. The truth is, you don't need it. You have accomplished things without it that we can only dream of, you're strong Izzy, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise." She finished her speech with a smirk, and Izzy was doing his best not to give way into a full smile.

A thunderous _***BOOM***_ could be heard, and lightning yelped before falling into Izzy's lap. He quirked his eyebrow and proceeded to burst into laughter. "You're afraid of thunder… and your name is Lightning?"

"Sh- shut up!" Lightning half-squealed, her face half red from the predicament. She lingered on his lap a little longer than she had to, savoring the warmth and sighing inwardly. " _He's never going to do it is he? He probably doesn't like me the way I like him… maybe-"_

"You know, this is pretty nice." Izzy said quietly. Lightning resisted the urge to squeal and instead kept a calm composure.

"Oh? And what would command say if they saw this?" She said jokingly. "But yes, it is quite nice."

Even after the storm was over, Lightning was fast asleep on Izzy's lap, and he was quite content with staying for a while.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Limits were made for a reason

 _ **Did you like the fluffity fluff that fluffed last chapter? Well, either way you get a plot development chapter today.**_

The vision was peaceful for once, and Izzy didn't really want to leave. Especially after the one he got directly after the Octo Stomp battle. So, when he had awoken, coughing up a mixture of normal blood and ASL, he was not happy to say the least. First off, Izzy was mostly sure he wasn't supposed to have 'normal' blood anymore, and second, his body hurt like hell. Izzy was never one to be a helpless victim, so with a grunt he swung out of the bed he was currently residing in and stood up. Looking around, he took note that wherever he was, it was pretty high end. He had a king sized bed, a soft magenta carpet woven in a squid pattern, and a nightstand set next to his bed with a… lava lamp? There were two doors in the room, one he guessed was the way one, and other most likely a bathroom. Opening it, he confirmed his second suspicion as he was met by a sparse but very clean bathroom.

Despite him not having any obvious wounds, Izzy still felt nauseous and exhausted. Stumbling over to a mirror, he realized he was also EXTREMELY pale. Almost no color adorned his face or any other part of his body. He tried to summon ASL to his arm, but only a faint blue color showed up before it sputtered away dimly.

His stomach growled, and he pulled off a weak smile. Trudging to the door, he flung it open to reveal a nicely furbished hallway. Izzy's eyebrows almost raised themselves, it was clear he was in a five-star hotel, or somewhere of equal quality. Hearing two voices down the hall, he was half tempted to run back to his room, but he didn't know what that would do to his health. Instead he strode down towards the noise at an even pace, and before he knew it, he was face to face with both Callie and Marie.

"You're… awake? And walking?" Callie said, surprise evident in her voice.

"It will take more than a giant cube with a frowny face to kill me, I hope." Izzy said, leaning against the wall for support.

"Yeah… but you lost about 4.5 pints of blood. At best, you would be in a coma due to shock, and when you woke up you would probably be crippled for life." Marie added, mystified.

Izzy was shocked, but attempted not to show it. He lost THAT much blood? The only time he remembered getting injured was with the shrapnel sticking out of his arm, and that was not nearly enough to even come close to half a pint. Everything slowly kicked into place.

"Do you know why I lost that much?" Both of them shook their heads.

"The doctor we brought in couldn't fathom a reason why. He also said it was strange, when we first brought you back your blood concentration mostly had a light red color when oxidized. After an hour or two, it was being replaced by a thick bluish type substance, oxidation or not." Calle informed him.

Izzy visibly paled even further, giving his face the appearance of chalk. ASL functioned as a blood substitute, but when you use it… his blood level drains. That explained his dizziness after the battle, the stress of holding the massive octo stomp up so long drained him. Could that possibly be the explanation for his... unpleasant vision directly afterward as well?

"Delta?" Marie asked, slightly concerned.

Izzy shook his head. "I'm fine, just a little tired from the whole thing. I really could use something to eat though."

Marie visibly perked up, and ran off in the opposite direction, shouting something about kelp stew. Callie gave a small laugh before turning back to him.

"What you did was the bravest and dumbest thing I have ever seen." She said simply, her arms crossed. "Try to be more careful in the future, okay?" She then did something Izzy would have never expected, she planted a small kiss on his cheek before going to find wherever Marie had went off to. Izzy rubbed his check, thoroughly surprised.

"It's going to be one hell of a day, isn't it?"

oo0OO0oo

"Boss?" A deep voice came filtering through the door.

"Come in…" A raspy voice replied.

X was pleasantly surprised when he saw his lieutenant, the human, come into the chamber.

"I just want ya to know, I had another vision about that brat again." Al said, only half interested in the report.

"And?" X prompted. "Anything of major importance?"

"Same old, same old. I don't know why you insist on wastin' both of our time with this." He grumbled back.

"Relay it once more, then only tell me again if it changes." X said neutrally.

"There's this kid, about an inch shorter than me, yeah? He looks like he has powers like me, but his glows blue and he is helpin' the inklings." Al reported.

"Very well, thank you Al. You have the rest of the day free." X watched as Al grinned and strode out, probably to "train" some of the octolings.

"They probably need it anyway…" X mumbled to himself, before returning to the screen in front of him.

oo0OO0oo

After a small meal and some water, Izzy was feeling quite better.

"How many inklings know I exist now?" Izzy questioned quietly. His element of surprise was his best bet for escaping the attention of both inklings and octolings.

"Only really that doctor we brought in, but we have his word on keeping his lips sealed. He has helped our family for over a decade." Marie said, gleeful that someone had actually enjoyed her kelp soup. "You know, you should go shopping with us sometime, it would be fun!"

"Marie." Izzy deadpanned. "I WANT to stay hidden, and I think going to a public store would be on my top ten avoid this place list."

"Awww cmon! We could Disguise you and everything!" Marie said, trying to get him to agree.

"The main problem is that I can't read inkish and I am super tall compared to inklings. I think I am even slightly taller than Spyke!" Izzy rebutted.

"I actually agree with Marie on this." Callie said, who had been quiet up to this point.

"Why's that?" Izzy questioned.

"You've been working yourself too hard. I don't care if you are a supersoldier or not, everyone needs a break so you don't collapse from the stress." She said, locking eyes with him. "You're very important to us… to me… and I can't stand to see you neglect yourself! What would happen to us and Hamil if you were to collapse under the stress? Like it or not, you're our friend, and we all look up to you for inspiration."

"I can handle it." Izzy said, looking down to avoid eye contact.

"Maybe. Can you just promise to take better care of yourself if nothing else?" She pleaded.

"Yeah." Izzy said, letting out a sigh. "When you put it that way… yeah. And IF you find a suitable size by tomorrow… I'll go with you to the shopping trip."

Marie squealed before hugging him.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Let's go shopping!

 _ **A/N: Dis is chapter before other chapter today. You no panic, yes?**_

"I don't see how this counts as a disguise. If anything, it will attract more attention!" Izzy said, still slipping into the outfit regardless.

"It covers your face and main features, doesn't it?" Callie's voice came through the door.

"I look like I stepped straight out of a rave…" Izzy grumbled.

"Well, Hamil told us you can play the squitar. Believe or not, very few inklings are musically talented. We can pass you off as a friend who travels the world; and happened to stop here for a day." Marie chipped in.

Reluctantly, Izzy opened the door and stepped out of the changing room. Since his bodysuit was already black, that just had details etched on, including icy blue decos covering it. He was also equipped with a pair of fingerless gloves, and a space-age looking helmet that was basically a pair of one way sunglasses.

"This thing is REALLY hot." Izzy complained, stretching the neck piece open to allow air in. "Why do you even have this in the first place?"

"For Splatfest special guests! No one has got to wear it yet, though." Marie told him happily.

"Splat… what?" Izzy said, confused. "Nevermind. Tell me later." He finished, walking off. "If we are going together, I suggest you come now or never."

oo0OO0oo

"Before we go to the rest of the mall, we should check in on the Booyah Base strip. I always love saying hi to the shopkeepers!" Marie chirped, almost skipping along as Izzy and Callie were trying to keep up.

"Not to be rude." Izzy started, "But besides the fact I'm here, why are we garnering so much attention?"

Callie gave a small laugh, before realizing Izzy wasn't doing the same. "You seriously don't know? Well I guess you wouldn't have seen us outside the newscasts… Yeah, not to brag, but we are sorta major celebrities here."

"I can't really see that in you or Marie actually…" Izzy teased.

Callie rolled her eyes. "I can't really see how you are so good in combat either."

"So what's this Booyah Base thing Marie was going on about?" Izzy said, switching the conversation. Callie didn't seem to catch his nervous attitude at the question, so he gave a small sigh of relief.

"A row of four shops set outside in inkopolis plaza. They are mostly used to get gear for turf wars, but there is plenty for non-sporty inklings to buy. We better catch up before Marie buys everything." She lightly grabbed his wrist, and pulled him along.

Marie was waiting outside one of the stores, tapping her foot impatiently. "You're lucky I waited for you guys, you're so slooow."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get this over with." Izzy said, his lack of enthusiasm flying past Marie.

Izzy entered the store, and was greeted by the sight of a giant tempura shrimp… Officially weirded out, he stuck in the back of the group as Callie and Marie were greeted by him.

"What up squiddos!?" He said happily. "Always nice to see you two still have time for ol' Sean here."

Marie giggled at the shrimps bubbly personality. "It's nice to see you too, Sean!"

"We have a friend in town, so we invited him around inkopolis." Callie added in.

"Hmmm…. I can tell he hasn't played a turf war before, but I suppose he is fresh enough if he's with you two." Sean said after a moment of scrutiny.

Izzy gave him a wave in response, trying not to talk unless necessary. He trailed along behind Callie and Marie, who were chatting with each other about the 'freshest' gear (seriously, what did fresh mean?) and picked out a few pairs of shoes.

They did this two more times, stopping at Jelonzo's and Annie's shops. Both times, Izzy let them do the talking and mostly attempted to stay quiet, even the supposedly rude clownfish Annie had with her didn't really bother him.

They didn't stop at the last store, and Marie explained it was a weapons store for turf wars, and there wasn't really a need to stop there.

After finding an open bench, Callie and Marie had fans to attend to, so Izzy made himself comfortable.

He was about to doze off when a vision struck him. Izzy clenched his teeth and made a solid grip on the slats of the bench; he couldn't afford to cause a scene here and now.

This was a bystander vision, the one where he relived the event without actually being in his own body. It was weird not having control over what you're doing, but not having control and seeing yourself at the same time definitely wasn't doing him any favors.

For a moment Izzy was confused, he knew he wasn't in a body, and yet he couldn't actually see anyone else around. A electronic glow lit up, and a few feet away was someone working away on a computer, the back of a swivel chair greeting Izzy. Suddenly, the figured whirled around, and Izzy was greeted by an octopus... not an octoling, but an actual octopus. He/she had a mostly pinkish purple body, with two tentacles holding wasabi sticks and two crossed in an eternal lock of dissatisfaction. Oh one of the crossed tentacles, a large green scar resembling an X could be seen. It wore a giant golden crow, the rim slightly broken off from some previous encounter. The remaining tentacles worked as its' 'legs' as it got up and scanned the room.

"I sense... a presence." It commented, giant green eyes narrowing. "Hear this Agent 3... Octavio is back. And this time, I promise ill drop you so hard you'll be bangaranged to pieces!"

"Delta?" Callie called out to him, prodding his arm.

"Whoziwhatzit?" Izzy snapped awake. "Sorry, just tired." He lied, not wanting to worry them about it. Faking a smile, he stood up and stretched. "Better get all this stuff back your place, yeah?"


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Sunlit Backdrop part 1

 _ **Ayyy, welcome back to BoTF. Two things: This is another flashback chapter. And, I have a new story I'm working on by request, called "Remnants of Old". It focuses on inklings and octarians alike more than this story does, so if you like my writing style but want to see more Splatoon-ish elements, go check it out. Pls forgive me for short chapter today, I worked on like four stories at once, and a role play, and homework. You'll get Sunlit Backdrop part 2 and another chapter tomorrow.**_

The view was absolutely breathtaking. The cliff that crested the hills of the beach rose high up into the sky, giving a clear view of the expansive ocean below. The sparkling waves were highlighted by the rays of the rising sun, the pinks and purples of the sky melding together to create a scene that artists could only dream of seeing.

None of that mattered, however, to the group currently residing at the top of the hill for a vantage point, and nothing more. Several of them bore injuries, ranging from minor to life-threatening. Normally the injuries would have been scoffed at; all of them bore the gift of ASL. The fact they were currently in rebellion against a foe with near limitless resources to send against them didn't really help. They all knew ASL fed on natural blood, and overuse caused fatal complications.

Instead, the solemn camp was tended to by the members who had formal training in field medicine, while the uninjured grimly plotted out their next move. Izzy worked his way over to the only tent the rebels boasted. Ignoring the scratches and cuts across his entire body. Inside, he was met with the grim faces of Cyrus, Lightning, and Richter. Arc and Kiev, the other original squad leaders, had secured the escape for the rebels at a high cost.

This was the first time Izzy actually had the opportunity to see Cyrus in all his glory, and frankly, he wasn't disappointed. He stood around 6 feet, 4 inches tall. He was wearing a kevlar body piece, and underneath was a black sweater vest, curving out at the top. He had only his right hand gloved, and even then it was fingerless. His boots and pants were standard issue among commanders; black and prim.

The makeshift room had obviously been in a heated exchange before Izzy walked in.

"I don't like it either. But they say either WE go, or they do." Cyrus grumbled, staring Richter straight in the eyes.

"I'm aware of that, but who is to say that plan has any chance at all of working? The technology is far beyond our grasp, and if it fails we lose not only squad members, but our friends. They need that bond, Cyrus. It's the only thing keeping us together." Richter retorted, giving Cyrus an equally vicious glare.

"Izzy." Lightning greeted him, discomfort clear as she attempted not to involve herself with the dispute.

Cyrus turned to him, reverting to his normal stoic personality. "Izzy. Welcome. If I may, Richter, I say we let him be the deciding vote. After all, it was by the recommendation of you and Lightning that he help lead us."

Richter and Lightning exchanged a worried look, before Richter turned to him, his face unreadable. "The rest of the squad wants us to use our hijacked cryogenic pods to wait out The Authority for a week, since the pods are waterproof and mask heat signatures. Problem is, we'd be leaving the rest of the squad behind, and we can't ensure the pod won't malfunction at launch.

Izzy took his time before replying. "I think we should do it."


	17. IMPORTANT

Hello everybody, long time no see.

I'm not going to ask for forgiveness and act like nothing has happened...

I've neglected not only my stories, but my friends and readers as well.

This is why... I am no longer going to write for the site.

Instead, I pass the torch of my account to not only a friend, but a new member and the person who taught me to write the way I do.

After this is posted, DiscreetMidnight will have full control over my account, and my trust that he will continue whatever positive legacy I have.

 **Heya, Midnight here. I'm sad that our friendly neighborhood swede is leaving... and I have no idea how it is for you.**

 **I can't promise the exact same character personality or arcs as Panda had, but I'll damn well try.**

 **I'm aware that Panda had a half-editor named Dark, and was collaborating with another member named John. I'll try to keep relationships tight, but if either of you are uncomfortable with this idea, please let me know.**

 **So, I guess I'll see you when I finish reading Panda's plans and start on a chapter,**


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